One more Tajik killed in clashes over construction of road around Tajik exclave

One more Tajik was killed by gunfire and two others were hospitalized with gunshot wounds after a deadly violence broke out for the second consecutive day along the disputed stretch of the Tajik-Kyrgyz border.

Residents of Vorukh, Tajik exclave in Kyrgyz territory, say armed Kyrgyz citizens opened fire at residents of the village of Tojikon in the Vorukh jamoat on March 14 at 3:10 pm. According to them, one person was killed and two others were wounded.

The killed villager was named by Vorukh residents as Rafouddin Teshayev, 37.

The cause of this conflict is still unknown. According to Vorukh residents, the Kyrgyz side is arming its citizens.

The violence came a day after Husein Hakimov, the 43-year-old teacher from the Khoja Alo village in Isfara’s Chorkuh jamoat, was shot dead at the same location during a clash between residents of the Kyrgyz village of Ak-Sai and the Tajik village of Mehnatobod.

The road connecting Vorukh and Isfara reportedly remains blocked. “They even did not allow Sughd governor Rajabboy Ahmadzoda, who arrived here today morning for negotiations to leave Vorukh. He, Isfara mayor and chiefs of Sughd power wielding are currently in Vorukh,” a source told Asia-Plus by phone Thursday afternoon.

Recall, the clashes broke out on March 13 after Kyrgyz authorities attempting to restart constructing the Koktosh-Aksai-Tamdyk road.

Tajikistan insists the proposed path of the road cuts through disputed territory, and that the road should not be built until a deal is reached on the exact location of the border.

Officials from both countries said that construction work on the road had, once again, been halted while negotiators discuss the situation.